Top of the Charts : Old Forester

The offspring of Old Forester are generally hard to miss. Not only do the first two crops of the sire’s foals often look like him, chestnut with lots of chrome, but they have cut a swath through the general sire list in Canada. The son of Forestry’s juveniles continue to dominate their division too.

In the final tabulations of Canadian sire statistics by the Jockey Club Information Systems Inc. (see Purina’s Leaderboard on page 22), Old Forester topped two of of the four published lists as well as led all second crop Canadian-based sires.

The 11-year-old son of Forestry – Halo River, by Irish River (Fr) has taken Ontario racing by storm since he arrived at John Carey’s T.C. Westmeath Stud in Shelburne, Ontario as part of a partnership.

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In 2011, the graded stakes winning sire had 81 starters and 41 winners including four black-type winners. He had 14 repeat winners and his runners earned $3,068,055, edging out perennial leading Canadian sire Bold Executive, who passed away last year.

Old Forester was a much easier leading sire by two-year-old race earnings as his 10 winners from 28 starters collected over $930,000, more than twice as much as the juveniles of Bold Executive.

In the list of top Canadian second crop sires, Old Forester did have some strong opposition in the form of Philanthropist, standing at Gardiner Farms. The difference in purse earnings was about $500,000 but both young sires were dominant in Ontario in 2011.

The pair were sixth and 10th on the overall list of second crop sires in North America according to Blood-Horse.

Old Forester’s top two earners of 2011 were both juveniles. Jenna’s Wabbit, a giant bay gelding out of the Take Me Out mare In the Buff, won three of six races including the Bull Page and Frost King Stakes. The speedy youngster won $219,920.

Another fast Old Forester baby was the filly Kitty’s Got Class, produced from the Doneraile Court mare Dancing Courtesan. Kitty’s Got Class won three of four races including the Fanfreluche and Victorian Queen Stakes, both sprints.

Much like their sire, the offspring of Old Forester love the grass too. His stakes winners Weekend Romance (Vice Regent mare) and Citius (Rizzi mare) both won added-money events on the Woodbine turf.

Old Forester, who is in-bred to Northern Dancer 4×5 and Bold Ruler 5×5, also had runners win around two turns including stakes placed L’Avenue (out of a Bold Executive mare) and Forest Maid (Sea Hero).

Old Forester will stand for a fee of $10,000 in 2012, up from $8,500 in 2011.

GILDED TIME

Leading Canadian Sire by Winners

Leading Western Canadian sire

Since he arrived in Canada prior to the 2008 breeding season, champion Gilded Time has had a firm hold on the leading sire list for stallions standing in western Canada.

Now 22, Gilded Time was also the leading sire in Canada by the number of winners for the second consecutive year.

The son of Timeless Moment – Gilded Lilly, by What a Pleasure stands at Lynne Chouinard’s Bar None Ranches in Dewinton, Alberta and his 2012 fee is private.

The sire’s 92 winners in 2011 won 131 races and came from 154 starters, bettering the 69 winners for Ontario sire Milwaukee Brew (although that sire’s winners won 125 races).

His six stakes winners was also tops among all Canadian sires and on the western Canada sire list, his progeny earnings totaled $2.1 million, more than twice that of the late Vying Victor.

Gilded Time’s top runners of 2011 included a variety of age groups. Eight-year-old Mighty Rule (out of a Nasty and Bold mare) won the $100,000 Robert Molaro Handicap at Hawthorne and is now a career earner of $610,557.

In Alberta, Silver Baubles (Silver Deputy mare) was a top two-year-old as he won the Alberta Premier’s Futurity and placed second in the Birdcatcher and Canadian Juvenile Stakes. He also sired the stakes winning two-year-old filly Ruckus Time (Vilzak mare)

Gilded Time is also the sire of Swedish stakes winner Verde Mar (Brz), a colt out of a Spend a Buck mare and California graded stakes placed Lily Fa Pootz (Fit to Fight mare).

WANDO

Leading Canadian Third Crop Sire

Welcome home Wando! Canada’s most recent Triple Crown winner returned to his homeland for the 2011 breeding season after starting his stud career in Kentucky. It turned out to be a huge year for the sire and his offspring and the son of Langfuhr led a 1-2 charge for Gus Schickedanz stallions represented by their third crop of starters. Wando’s multiple stakes winner stablemate Mobil, also by Langfuhr, was second to his buddy, less than $300,000 in progeny earnings off the lead.

In total, Wando had 62 runners, 32 winners and two stakes winners of five added-money races. The most notable of these, of course, was Woodbine Mile (GI) winner Turralure (Wekiva Springs mare) who came back to finish a strong second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (GI) at Churchill Downs.

Turralure earned $1,157,460 of the $2,127,079 collected by offspring of Wando in 2011.

Wando is also the sire of multiple stakes winner Wando Woman, a top three-year-old filly in British Columbia and a daughter of a Marshua’s Dancer mare. He also sired the fast-improving Associate, who was third in the Grade I Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 to the very fast California colt The Factor. Associate is out of a Crafty Friend mare.

Standing at Schonberg Farm in Schomberg, Ontario, Wando has a 2012 fee of $3,500.

PHILANTHROPIST

Leading sire by Average Earnings Per Runner

Canadian racing fans were greeted with any number of exciting thoroughbreds in 2011, and the top three-year-old male and one of the top three-year-old females were both sired by Philanthropist.

A rangy son of Kris S., Philanthropist had a super year with his second crop of runners, and it was not surprising to see his runners duke it out with the second crop of runners by Old Forester.

While Old Forester may have had an edge on Philanthropist by overall progeny earnings, it was the Gardiner stallion who topped Canadian studs by average earnings per runner.

Tabulated for stallions with at least 10 starters, the average earnings per runner list shows that Philanthropist is the runaway leader at $64,568 for 41 starters. His progeny earnings check in at $2,647,314 for 2011.

The sire’s average earnings per runner is well ahead of the $37,877 for Old Forester runners (81 of them) and $37,827 for offspring of Niigon (39 starters).

Much of Philanthropist’s success came from his top sophomores which included Pender Harbour, the probable three-year-old male champion in Canada, who earned $861,092 and won two-thirds of Canada’s Triple Crown. Pender Harbour, a gritty chestnut gelding, is out of a Hail the Ruckus mare. Philanthropist’s daughter Bear It’s Time won $367,120 including the Bison City Stakes and she was produced from a Missionary Ridge (GB) mare.

The sire’s other stakes horses in 2011 included Queen’s Plate runnerup Hippolytus (Ascot Knight mare) and Kingarvie stakes winner Run In Aruba (Boone’s Mill mare).

Philanthropist stands for a fee of $10,000.

VIBANK

Leading Freshman Sire

The country’s top freshman sire is always the cover-boy for Canadian Thoroughbred’s annual Sire Book and this year it was Park Stud’s Vibank who gave us a pose.

The solid, stakes winning son of Silver Deputy was also fifth on the leading Canadian sire list by two-year-old earnings behind Old Forester et al.

Vibank’s first crop featured 13 runners including one filly, Kardashian, who made some noise when she won a training race in Aiken in South Carolina in late winter. Kardashian was placed three times in the spring of 2011 when she arrived at Woodbine.

The top earner for Vibank was Euphrasia (out of a Stormy Atlantic mare), one of three winners for the sire. His other winners were Mono Cliffs (Sea Wall mare) and Is It Cool (Fastness (Ire)). He had five other placed runners and his offspring earned $244,297.

Vibank stands for a fee of $1,500.